Yesterday my older son was browsing through my blog and in a complaining tone he asked how come I had not updated this blog. Though I have been writing more on the cooking blog and travel blog of late, there has been no post on this blog for more than a week. He enquired, not even the gratitude post and then it struck me – it was almost month end. So here I am writing the post, for myself and my children and the others who enjoy my gratitude roundup.
November like every other month has been a bit of a mixed bag. It started out on a high and then in the last week, the weather has been a bit unpredictable so all of us have been suffering off and on with allergies, colds and coughs. Grateful for the pleasant and cold weather despite the other problems.
This month I finally managed to finish watching Castle that I started a couple of months back. Every serial when it ends leaves you feeling sad for a few days, and I preferred not to begin watching any new series right away. As I mentioned last month, I only watch TV series for 15 days in a month especially the online kinds. The kids and I still watch Masterchef Australia on TV and sometimes I watch Crime Patrol. Beyond that my TV viewing is almost nil. And I am not missing it at all. This month we also watched Thor – Ragnarok, an absolutely delightful movie. It was total paisa vasool and a great family outing. These days I am choosy about the movies I watch in the theatre and this one was a great choice. The children also got to watch Secret Superstar as a Children’s Day treat from school. I thought it was a wonderful choice of a movie and also a good gesture. And now I am going to start GoT (Game of Thrones) that so many of my friends have endorsed. So now that December is here, broadband permitting, there will be some binge watching happening. 🙂
This month, I managed to read only one book and a few magazines. I know not too good but with bursts of work and other engagements I somehow did not find enough time. This month was a month when I gifted myself a couple of gems. Of course, much discussion went on and the husband and the sons are the perfect sounding boards with the best advice on what to buy. So I bought a Pixel XL phone and a Kindle Paperwhite. Both wonderful choices so far though I haven’t started reading on Kindle yet. Reading brings me to the younger son. Remember, I used to be concerned that he didn’t read enough. It delights me to see him take on to reading. He has been devouring the Harry Potter series. He is onto book 3 and so engrossed is he that he just comes home and starts reading. While that gives me a lot of joy, it sometimes is very difficult to get him do other things. Now should I feel grateful or annoyed?
Fitness has been more or less good. One great thing is that I am back to strength training this month. Last two weeks, I have strength trained 3 times a week. I love doing muscle work and the best part is the toning that I get as a result. Hope to continue it along with my running/jogging in the evening.
Finally, we are trying to initiate the kids into more household chores. The younger son has recently begun ironing his clothes. The elder one has been doing and skipping it for years. Both the kids also help vacuum the sofa. We need to do it every month to get rid of Coco’s hair that weaves itself into the crevices. Now the husband is trying to teach them to do basic sewing too. Let’s see how that goes. One thing that strikes me is how we were never really taught anything by our parents. We just watched and started doing. But with our children are we being extra cautious and holding them back from doing chores? Elder son has now become comfortable in taking public transport which is really good. I am grateful that we are imparting them more life skills.
November was also my birthday month. The birthday was low-key being a weekday but we did go out for dinner during the weekend. Birthdays are good solely for good wishes and love. The icing on the cake were the phone calls from my school, college and other friends who found time to call and catch up. Some of them are in different parts of the world and it felt good to be remembered.
Work has been steady and good. I never cease to feel grateful for that. I’ve been working towards taking better pictures for my food blog and also updating the posts to a neat, recipe format. I’ve also uplifted my travel blog out of coma by posting some posts. Have so many pictures and stories to share but don’t find enough time. Grateful for everything new and exciting that I do within the time constraints.
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December is the final month of the year, hectic as we wind up this year and pass on our hopes, aspirations and dreams to the next year. It is also the month when the husband and I celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary. Gosh! Such a roller coaster ride this has been.
How has your November been? What are you looking forward to in December?
Do join Vidya and the #gratitudecircle
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